New Delhi: Hit by the economic slowdown, India Inc has virtually stopped fresh recruitments to cut costs, an industry lobby said.
Around 90 percent of over 150 human resource (HR) officials, participating in an internal seminar organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said there was a "virtual ban on fresh recruitments in private sector as attrition rate has subsided in almost all sectors".
They said the HR departments were under severe pressure to come up with new strategies to cut costs as Indian corporates are now trying to avoid lay-offs and restructure operations with a "human face".
"In order to compensate against lay-offs, the management in majority of the cases is being advised by HR professionals to curtail to a legitimate extent of 10-15 percent wage cuts in total emoluments at middle and senior middle level and that of 25-35 percent at senior levels," said Assocham president Sajjan Jindal.
Only 5-7 percent wage cuts are being recommended for lower level employees as the focus is more on cutting administrative costs, he said.
Over 100 HR professionals said employees' unions in the corporate world have stopped demanding wage revision and are now cooperating with cost-cutting measures on condition that lay-offs should be avoided.
Nearly 20 percent of HR professionals, however, said some corporate houses were still following the HR policies of the past and their employees enjoyed all benefits.
Banking, finance and business outsourcing sectors continue to recruit fresh people as demand is now picking up in these segments, they said.
Jindal added that the economic activity would pick up after the elections as several stalled projects would resume and fresh budgetary allocations would further boost the economy.
"The economy will start bouncing back by May 2010," he added.
Comments
0 comment